What Threw the Roadblock in My Thursday Inspiration

Last Thursday those creative folks at Inspire me Thursday had a surprise for us. It was essentially "Do Your Own Thing" day.

I've been having some trouble with arthritis in my hands, so this project started with wondering about how the progressive nature of arthritis would limit the scope of my work in the future, and how people who are self-employed might better prepare for unanticipated roadblocks in our paths.

With burgeoning technology, the potential for creative solutions for those of us who work for ourselves is increasing. To protect my hands for example I use a program called shortkeys which allows me to enter a short string of characters to produce a longer text block.

A timer on my laptop reminds me to take a break and tracks the activity level on the computer throughout the day.

A speech recognition program is in my future and although I most likely will not be working with clay or doing detailed hand printmaking, alternatives like photo-transfer pieces, collage and other mixed-media work seem like viable options.

In the end, this Thursday reminded me of the importance of resting joints that are acting up and it also provided the incentive to do some preparation for the future. It was only later that I got around to creating a postmark for the smallest of my art pieces, the Artistamps of Ephemeria.

You can look through projects I've done for other Inspire Me Thursday and Illustration Friday here in the blog, or visit the Inspire Me Thursday website for more ideas and inspiration.

Comments

[Tomas Wong]

Hi, I only care that I have my mother proud of me. Because I know that my father hates me so I really don’t care if he is proud of me or not. I have tryed to walk the strait and narrow path and faltered afew time. But, at the end of the day I would like to know that my Mother was proud I was her son
I am sorry if it to you not interestingly.

[Susan]

Ouissi, I commisserate; I've had it in my hands for some time too. Thanks for the nice words; it does make an impression when someone as talented and busy as you takes the time to leave a comment.

[Ouissi]

wonderfully positive post!! I have suffered from arthritis (mainly in my legs & fingers) since I was 9 so I can sympathise...not easy...great that there are lots of ways to still create...

Ouissi x

[Susan]

Good motto. And being prepared in advance is a good idea too. I've got generic blog posts prepared for times when posting isn't possible and take-out menus in a drawer for when cooking's an issue. Those are getting lots of use!

[webduck]

As I told someone just recently, "You do what you can, when you can, and as you can". That's my newest motto, and I am sticking to it!